We have started a new project-a quick two week master bathroom and bedroom remodel while clients are out of town. We have done this before with great success. This project has a little wrinkle in it.
The clients 50 yr old daughter and son in law are living at home while the find something new to do. The last three mornings they have been passed out on the living room sofa with beer cans scattered on the table and we need to go through the living room to get to the master suite. Frankly it is kind of awkward having to walk by passed out people and trying to focus on the work at hand.
I know I am uncomfortable with the situation and imagine my crew and subs will be as well. I am tempted to call the owners, who I have known for years and respect greatly and inform them of the situation and suggest we finish when they get back to avoid any embarrassing situations. I really do not like working around a bunch of drunks.
What would you do? The reason I ask is that the vision of these folks passed out on the couch is sticking in my head and I am concerned about the distraction. The last time I was this distracted by something I cut my damn thumb off. I really would like everyone to be focused on the task at hand.
Thanks for your input and your frankness would be appreciated.
Bruce
Replies
Wow, that one's touchy. Be the professional, communicate directly with the Owner, ASAP. You can't go too wrong with clear communication. You've had this work scheduled, you're on the job - if you clear out until the owners are back, you'll lose time and money. If you come back when the owners return, you'll have 4 people to deal with.
I'd probably take several quick digital photos, then put drop cloths over them and carry on !
Greg
make a temopray entrance through a window so you be block off from the rest of the house
When I have awkward or otherwise strange situations going on while working I simply "tune out". I am there to provide a specific service, not tattletale, discipline, or dispute the client's lifestyle. The client could be growing dope in his kitchen and I wouldn't care as long as nothing is directly in the path of my work and the checks are good, I don't care what goes on.
I would much rather work around some passed out drunks than awake ones (been there). At least when they are passed out they don't talk and ramble on about their woes or ask the same question 50 times. Also, I'd rather work around a drunk passed out or awake than around someone's screaming kids or constantly barking dogs (been there A LOT!).
When I hire subs on projects with "distractions" I inform them of the special circumstances before they bid me. Usually it's something like "be aware that the basement is a mess" or "I gotta warn ya, the client is a non-stop talker" and of course "now remember, this house has lot's of previous DIY work". Those seem to be the most common.
So simply put I will tell you like I tell my own workers: "Don't freakin' worry about it, just work around it!"
Sorry to say, if you didn't want to deal with the nuances of human interaction, you should build spec houses instead of a remodeler.
DC
Their daughter and son-in-law are adults, not children. Don't babysit or coddle them or let their proximity to your work slow you down. Don't let them distract you from what you've been hired to do.
Show up in the morning, kick the beer cans out of your way, give them a hearty "Good morning, Sunshine!" and start making sawdust.
Report to the homeowner? They probably know about the behavior, why possibly embarrass them? Or why bring your standard of morals into their life? They hired you to make sawdust, not to provide counsel.
It's time to be a professional. That's not meant as a slam. Just do your work. If they slow you down the time for discussion will be when the owners return home and wonder why you are still there.
Set up a chop saw as close to them as you can and start at 8.
Put on talk radio.
They will clear out fast.
But dont taunt them after 2 in the afternoon they will start getting grouchy with hangovers.
Test fire your Ramset every morning into some two by four scrap sammiches.
Fire in the Hole!
Edited 6/17/2009 2:31 pm ET by CStanford
I'm with Dreamcatcher and Mongo on this. They've said it quite well.
The only advice I'll add is...if either of them is partially exposed when you open the front door (bound to happen with drunks, sooner or later), back out and knock loudly enough to wake 'em up. If that doesn't do it, they deserve to wake up on their own and feel stupid.
Edited 6/17/2009 2:47 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
>>"The only advice I'll add is...if either of them is partially exposed when you open the front door ....."Been almost thirty years ago, I was managing my own rentals, doing all of the remodeling and upkeep. I had 4 older two-story houses, each of them divided top/bottom.In Amy of one year, one of the top floor apts went empty, then got rented to three college kids. Very much a "Three's Company" kind of thing -- two girls, one guy. But not all that much like the TV show -- this was a one bedroom apt.When I rented it to them, I told them that I would be painting that house starting in June. Just covering my yazz and all.A week before I planned to start, I told them again. And the day before I showed up with ladders, one more time.And I told them I would be starting at the peak, in the front of the house. (That was directly above their living room window.)I climbed that ladder in the morning, only to notice three nekkid people sleeping on the floor.A week later, I was in the back of the house, at the peak -- same thing through the bedroom window.And there I was, only about 27 years old myself. Ever try to climb a 40-footer, with a..... er..... well, you know.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
I greatly appreciate the input and insight provided. As the majority of you stated, get the work done and move forward is what we will do. I ring the door bell and knock hard on the door before we go in.
I am not sure why I felt I needed to be responsible to the 50 yr old children. My job is for the owners and we will get the work done.
Thanks again
Bruce
I'm with the guys who suggested making a LOT of noise - Especially early in the morning. That might make it uncomfortable enough for them that they find a new place to pass out.
Make yourself necessary to somebody. [R. W. Emerson]
your a....er....well, you know got in the way of climbing the ladder? What'd it do? Bump on the rungs?
Wow. I'm impressed!
like those before
work continues on as usual
but, I would talk to them and say something like I really hate to wake you guys up so early. Would you mind passing out...er...sleeping in the bedrooms?
no discussion with the HO. They know the dealio
just move all the furniture out of the living room, you dont want to damage it with sawdust
no discussion with the HO. They know the dealio
The drunks are in thier fifties. Makes the HO possibly seventy.
To the OP.
One cautionary note.
Never trust a drunk. If it is a daily thing, I disagree with the others. You have a big liability laying around your job site and you need to explain that to the HO. It is not in your interest to baby sit, work around, or end up in the middle of a situation that involves adult children of the HO.
First offense might have just been the only one, but more than that and I make a call.
if they are drunk and pass out, you can borrow my whiffle bat. it doesnt leave a mark but it real noisey and make you fell better
or........Hire a bouncer to toss them out in the morning.Let them back in at 5 for "Happy Hour" to help cover the bouncers paycheck.This is the business section isnt it?
Edited 6/19/2009 8:59 am by wood4rd
Liability was my first thought also. A drunk passed out on a job site wouldn't be any better.
If they sober up during the day, i'd tell them they need to start crashing elsewhere. If that doesn't work, then go to the owner.
I agree with others, drunks and construction sites just don't mix. Folks hurt themselves, tools go missing, and then there is the smell.
I lean toward informing the HO, if only for the CYA factor.
As long as the hung-over snoozers are clothed, I would just ignore it and get on with the job. Maybe you, armed with a couple dropcloths, should be first through the room each day.
Simply tell the crew members that stepping over a drunk passed out in their vomit is just part of the job.
Things could be worse. The person in front of you in the line at the unemployment office could vomit and pass out.
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"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
Draw on them with a Sharpie and take pictures of them and post 'em on the internet. They won't be in your way tomorrow.
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"Draw on them with a Sharpie and take pictures of them and post 'em on the internet."
Priceless! ;-)Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
I would mind my own business. I'm there to build, not judge. Vic